An Inquiry

[*Hydra]

The letter was accompanied with a copy of the Sigis.

Fraternity of Order,

Do what I read is just a tissue of lies or the harmonium has legally locked up the council where the government of Sigil holds council for "mysterious" reasons and seems to legally hold the Signers in hostage for "their own security" ? What will happen tomorrow ? will it be the turn of the Forge, the Gatehouse and the Armory ?

With my best regards, hoping you'll shed some light into these actions.

Factor Ta'Kan of the Godsmen

[*Orlitoq]

Bailiff Grahn Ljungstrahd is passing through the main anteroom of the City Courts on his way to the Bailiff's Bureau when the surly female dwarf receptionist calls out, "Oi! Cutter in the grey! Yeah, you!"

Grahn pauses mid-stride and then redirects himself to the dwarf's side where she absently hands him a copy of the SIGIS folded to reveal a news story about a forced quarantine, and a letter from Factor Ta'Kan of the Godsmen. "Take this will you, I aint got thyme for it..."

Grahn stands amid the hectic tides of petitioners to the Courts taking a few moments to read both the unsealed letter, and the news story. Once he has read both fully and with papers in hand, he turns on his heel and heads directly back to the offices of the Bureau of Interfactional Affairs where he knocks on the door to Bureau Chief Garen Seph's office.

[*Midnight]

Although the door to Garen's office is closed Caternia appears to be just leaving her own. She spots Grahn and smiles.

"How are you finding the Bureau Bailiff? Is there something you were after?"

[*Orlitoq]

Turning away from the door to Bureau Chief Garen Seph's office, Grahn offers a quiet nod in greeting to Caterina Arnders.

"This has been delivered to the Courts. I sought out Bureau Chief Garen Seph for guidance on this matter as it may fall under the purview of the Bureau of Interfactional affairs. If it does not, to whom should it then be delivered?"

The Bailiff offers up both items for Caterina Arnders to examine.

((What is the proper IC title for the character of Caterina Arnders?

[*Midnight]

She takes the copy of SIGIS. The pale petite woman who appears to be a rather unassuming office clerk seems rather comfortable in the presence of the hulking death knight.

"These sort of tensions and disputes between Factions are exactly what we deal with. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Bureau Chief Seph rarely deals with such matters in person though."

She glances up at the Death Knight being just over five foot in height she must crane her neck to do so. Her tone is filled with a genuine curiosity although even as she asks she has already reached for a quill and ink well to write a response.

"What do you think of the situation it describes?"

//Her title would be Administrator.

[*Orlitoq]

Before responding Bailiff Grahn stands quietly considering the question posed to him.

"Administrator, presuming that I am capable of correctly grasping the intent of Factor Ta'Kan of the Godsmen's message despite the Factor's rudimentary grasp of Common, it appears that the Harmonium are enacting a forced quarantine to stem the spread of an unknown contagion."

"Such an act would be admirable and well within both the limits of the law, and the mandate of the Harmonium... However, if the rumors in the Bazaar and the statements in the SIGIS are accurate, the intent behind these developments hint at a deeper and malicious misuse of Law."

"Is the purview of the Bureau of Interfactional affairs to police the factions, or to facilitate interactions between them? If it is the former, then we should investigate this issue and act decisively to rectify it should there be malfeasance at play. If it is the latter, then our role is simply to assuage the concerns of Factor Ta'Kan of the Godsmen by delivering unto the Factor a plausible cause for these actions that sets their mind at ease... If this latter point is our path, do we simply fabricate an assurance, or deduce the actual cause for this incident and deliver that up to the Factor?"

[*Midnight]

She stops talking and listens intently. She listens until Grahn finishes talking and sits and thinks over his answer before she speaks in turn.

"When formulating an adequate response we must first consider the parties involved and the laws that govern their actions. We will begin with the source of the objection. SIGIS. Sigil's Independently Gathered Information Service. As the name would suggest it is independently complied and it does not vet its contributors. It is also run for profit. I do not think that it would an out and out fabrication but I do think it more than likely that it may exaggerate events in order to sell more copies, couple this with the fact that as the article mentions one of SIGIS' own contributors is a member of The Sign of One who seems to be involved in this altercation with The Harmonium. I feel this more than an adequate motivation for SIGIS to benefit from the negative publicity against The Harmonium that this would generate.

Now next we have The Sign of One. Arguably the most politically influential of Sigil's Factions rivalled perhaps only by ourselves and the Society of Sensation in influence. Their Faction numbers much greater than the twenty eight members mentioned in the article. If they felt they were being mistreated then they would have brought a complaint to us themselves, in fact were their Headquaters to have been seized in such a way I imagine Factol Darius would have already summoned the other Factol's to resolve this.

Then there is The Harmonium, one of the Faction's that make up the Triad of Law. I think it unlikely that they would do something like this without the appropriate warrants. At a time when there are tensions between themand The Mercykillers it would be unwise of them to risk favourable relationship with us as well as the political backlash that would come with doing this illegally.

Finally there is Factor Ta'Kan who is of The Believers of the Source, and not the Sign of One. Whilst the two Factions are allies it is unheard of one Faction to take such action on behalf of another. As I understand it Factor Ta'Kan is new to the position she is in, I think The Factor is testing us, I think she would like to see how quickly we move to reign in The Harmonium and use that as an indication as to where out political leanings may be in the future."

She explains all of this calmly and slowly.

"To answer your question our Bureau's role is to ensure the smooth operation of all of Sigil's Factions within the framework of The Law."

[*Orlitoq]

*nods once* With that in mind, is not the best course of action simply sending Factor Ta'Kan of the Godsmen a letter asserting our intention to investigate to the fullest of our ability, while simultaneously simply waiting to see how the situation develops and only making a token investigation?"

[*Midnight]

"You are best of handing such materials to one of the Administrators. If there is ever any doubt come and speak to me."

Caterina inwardly sighs knowing full well why Garen gave her this job.

//The letter is sealed, but she wrote it in front of him as they talked. She wanted him to see it as she wants him to learn.

[*Orlitoq]

Nodding once the Bailiff states, "Of course... With your permission, Administrator Caterina Arnders, I would prefer to hand deliver this letter to Factor Ta'Kan of the Godsmen if possible. Not only would this give me the opportunity to establish ties directly to members of this other faction, it would lend an air of sincerity to our efforts in this matter."

EDIT: ((Which job was that?